Posted on 01/08/2021 12:05:13 PM PST by Bob434
Birds of a feather flock together. When the cat's away, the mice will play. We all know and love these common, American proverbs. Sometimes ironic, often silly and amusing, these sayings test our brains—and our wit. And it's not just in English. Playing with language in literature, conversation, and art has been a hallmark of different cultures for centuries.
With this in mind, over 450 years ago, Dutch master Pieter Bruegel the Elder painted his incredible Netherlandish Proverbs. Also known as The Dutch Proverbs, this oil on wood painting is a detailed masterpiece that visually represents over 100 Dutch proverbs. Bruegel is known for his elaborately detailed work, and what seems at first like a simple village scene with a wide cast of characters, is soon revealed to be something more.
(Excerpt) Read more at mymodernmet.com ...
Not just hidden meanings. Some you need to hold curved reflective surfaces to them to uncoil hidden imagery or look at them from slanted angles.
wow, didn’t know that- thanks for sharing that- will definitely have to look further into the secrets - Even Van Gogh had hidden things in his- one of his Paris outdoor cafe scenes with electric yellow lights, is said to be actually symbolic of Christ’s last supper (Gogh was a preacher at one time in a coal mining town- lived in sheer poverty, and darn near died serving the miners0- I had a huge book on him when i was a child- read every page, which included all his notes to people, mostly his brother- fascinating read really)
In Don Quixote, Sancho Panza could speak whole pages in nothing but parables. He could not help himself.
Is that guy with a crossbowman failing to hit the broad side of a barn? I’d be surprised if that dates back so far but if it’s not that I have no idea what it could be.
Men in suits: women wearing hats and everyone has 5 kids. Ah the baby boom years
I think so- looks like it- it might be a similar but different saying from way back
thanks for that- very cool-
When I was a child and told my grandmother that I wanted something, she would invariably answer, “if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.”
She was full of such wisdom, as The devil makes worry for idle hands, and many hands make light work.
RIP, Gram.
That’s racist and transphobic and should be replaced by a 450 year old Mau Mau painting with 100 tribal proverbs instead. It should also have been painted by one of the other 85 sexes instead of a man or woman too.
What are those circular accordion-like structures? Stacks of pancakes?
Japanese lanterns?
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